


Chance

by SammyFireheart



Category: Jeff Hardy - Fandom, WWE
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 11:00:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18737683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SammyFireheart/pseuds/SammyFireheart
Summary: Alexandria Malkay is the proverbial newbie in WWE but she has a few bumps in the road before she begins her first day leading her to the pair of Matt and Jeff Hardy. One of which isn't too happy that she is getting a little too close to Jeff. (I also have this on tumblr under wwefanfictiontrash9766)





	1. Chapter 1

October 6, 2007 Grand Rapids Michigan

Alexandria Malkay had been sitting in her run down shitbox for half an hour now. She had been processing the fact she would officially sign to RAW on the 8th for a month now. It still made her a mix of anxious and elated each time it crossed her mind. With a deep breath and a hand running through her black and red hair, looking more pink from the last shower she took.

She threw out every thought from her head and focused on the task at hand, the gym. The locks of her hair fell to mid back and the bottom third was normally fire engine red but she didn’t have the money to keep dying it. Or buy groceries for that matter. It was difficult at five foot one for people to take you seriously when it came to wrestling. She grabbed her gym bag and iPod before looking at her outfit once again, not wanting to look like an idiot if someone walked in. 

Someone being the other wrestlers she would work with once she was officially signed, the gym was owned by the WWE so they could work out without going to a public gym and being stopped every ten minutes or so for a photo. Not that anyone knew who she was, Alex just wanted a quiet empty place to work out so she could clear the thoughts in her head. 

With a loud creak she opened the door of the sky blue rust riddled 1994 Ford Tempo and got out gingerly closing the door. Last time she slammed it shut the door had actually fallen off from the rust deteriorating the hinge. Alex shivered as the cold October wind went through the small parking garage and through her workout clothes. She rushed into the building and sighed when she was out of the wind, with a quick glance at the clock she headed to the women’s locker room. 12:30 AM is what the clock indicated, to Alex the perfect time to go to the gym because of the lack of people in it. After locking her bag and change of clothes in a locker she made her way out into the gym and began her workout. 

After some time she heard a door slam shut over the roaring of the music in her headphones, making her almost jump out of her own skin. She was about to ask what the fuck was up with the slamming door when her emerald green eyes landed on none other than Jeff Hardy. Any words she was about to say flew out of her head, leaving her gaping like a fish. Mercifully he was texting someone when he was walking in and didn’t notice her on the leg press. She slowly got up and tripped on the piece where you can hold onto, with a groan she removed her face from the gym floor. Peering up she found that he was now looking at her with a ghost of a smile on his face. Alex could feel the laces of her shoes caught on the hand rest and tried not to let her pride feel it when she slipped her foot out of the shoe and sat cross legged on the floor.

“I-uh just ignore that please.” Alex blurted out with a sheepish smile at the man with rainbow colored hair. Now that she took him in fully he honestly looked really comfortable in the sweatpants and T-shirt that he wore.

“I wasn’t looking anyway so I think you’re good, as long as you didn’t hurt yourself. I’ve never seen you before around WWE are you new?” Jeff chuckled at first, the second part had him looking at her with curious jade eyes.

“Yea, it’s kept kinda quiet because they don’t know how good I’ll be. I’m not exactly the stereotypical woman for a diva. My name is Alex by the way, Lex or Lexa is fine too.” She wanted to smack herself when she felt herself start to babble. Alex rose to her feet and put the shoe back on before walking over towards him and the locker rooms.

“I’m Jeff, by your facial expression when I came in you already knew that. What brings you to the gym at two in the morning?” He shook her hand and Alex was doing her best to stay on her feet. Both from the workout and the fact he was the reason why she was wrestling, his stunning moves had mesmerized her and she tried emulating them. Resulting in many bruises and broken bones.

“I could ask you the same question, I think your answer might be similar to mine though. Well, I’m going to let you have the gym to yourself. I need to go home and shower so I’m functional tomorrow. It was really nice to meet you, see you Monday night.” Alex said by way of goodbye before slipping into the women’s locker room and changing. The My Chemical Romance shirt was nice and loose on her as were the sweatpants she slipped on. Thankfully he was still in the locker room when she was leaving. 

Once in her car she let the giant smile spread across her face she had been holding back so she wouldn’t look like a lunatic. She wanted to go back in there and talk to him but it was far too late and she was too tired. Making her way back to her ‘home’ that giddy feeling was replaced by the dread of walking into whatever hell her family could stir up. She could hear the yelling from in her car and exhaustion pressed on her, Alex parked the car away from the other two cars and scrubbed at her face with her hands. Alex removed the keys from the ignition and crawled into the backseat of the car, a pillow and blanket already waiting for her.

She looked up at the ramshackle house and did her best to tune out the voices of her mother, father, and sister who were all yelling. Soon the exhaustion became so heavy she fell asleep in the car, dreaming of a life where she wasn’t afraid to walk into her own home.


	2. Chapter 2

October 7, 2007

The morning came abruptly as Alex felt more than saw all the shards of her rear windshield crash down on her. Still disoriented, she was pulled out of the car by her shirt and thrown to the paved driveway by her father. A red faced, tall, fat, balding man who always wore clothes stained with beer and food. 

Alex scrambled to her feet as her eyes adjusted to the sudden daylight, her stomach turned when she saw it. Every belonging she had was burned, broken, or shredded as glass from her broken bedroom window littered the ground. Alex took only a moment to survey herself and saw no open wounds from the shattered windshield. Still half asleep she didn’t notice the quick movement of her father, his massive hand gripping her by the throat. Alex’s nails dug into the soft flesh of his hand hoping to pry it off. Where her nails raked at his hands a trickle of blood seeped out. She felt sick as it dripped down her neck and her body shuddered violently in response.

Everything was growing darker by the second and she couldn’t pry the vice grip from her throat. Alex felt icy fear slip into her because her mother and sister would never call the police, they were too scared of him. His hand was slowly tightening on her throat. White hot anger seared through her fear and she lifted her legs with the last ounce of strength she had. The sunlight was being blotted out by dark spots as she sent her feet between his legs as hard as she could.

Alex didn’t feel the impact on the driveway, she just gulped down the precious air with the few seconds she had won herself. As quick as she could be in a ring her father had two hundred pounds on her. He was a dock worker and was mostly muscle from lugging shipments.

“Get back here you little whore! Who did you fuck to get this job? You will embarrass this family by walking around looking like a little slut on national television.” Darron screamed in her face before pain bloomed on the right side of her head. Everything was black for a few moments before she was thrown at what she would guess was the tree in the yard. 

Alex felt something smooth and hard under her hand as she lay in the grass, Darron had instead turned his attention on her car. Crashing and crunching sounds filled the air as he used an iron bar to destroy the car completely. Figuring she was unconscious. The object under her left hand was her bass guitar. She just needed to get to her feet and run, hopefully being faster than him. With her head still spinning she managed to haul herself to her feet slowly. Alex picked up the guitar by the neck and held it like a bat. Darron turned when he saw her shadow from the corner of his eye. 

“Try and touch me again you pathetic drunk!” Alex hissed with as much courage as she could muster. Slowly edging towards the street and never taking her eyes off him.

Darron lunged and Alex threw the guitar in his direction turning on her heel and running as fast as her wobbly legs could take her. She must’ve looked like a madwoman by the time she got to the WWE gym, a hand full of blocks away from her house. The security guard almost didn’t let her in but she managed to hold on to the one thing that mattered from that hellhole. Her identification. With reluctance she was let in and didn’t even make it to the gym doors when she collapsed in the parking garage.

———

“No, no I know her. I-I saw her yesterday in the gym, but she didn’t look like this.” Alex groaned as a familiar voice roused her.

Feeling rushed back into her body and Alex wished she was still unconscious when the splitting pain in her head returned. Opening her eyes she saw Matt and Jeff hardy crouching down and trying to assess if she was coherent.

“It looks worse than it feels, did- did anyone follow me.” She twisted enough to see the entrance but realized she wasn’t in the parking garage. She was in the gym, on a mat.

“I heard the guard arguing with someone but I wasn’t paying attention to that. What the hell happened after you left yesterday?” Jeff helped her sit up slowly

“It's not something you need to know about.” Alex breathed out as she leaned against the cool wall.

“Jeff just found you looking half dead in the garage. And you looked terrified when you tried to look around.” Matt pointed out with a look that they would sit there until they got an answer they deemed the truth.

“It’s just family shit, you kno-“ a sharp look from Jeff silenced her excuse and she looked down at her lap. Her sweatpants were torn and dirty. Her hands had dried blood under the nails so she could only guess what the rest of her looked like.

“That's not a family fight Alex. It looks like you couldn’t even defend yourself from whoever attacked you.” Jeff snapped, she had forgotten that some men weren’t like her father. Some actually gave a damn.

“It is how mine fights. They live not that far down the road and I guess my sister found out about WWE and told my parents. I’ve always been the black sheep so it doesn’t surprise me that my father lashed out like this. They don’t make much money so I guess they’re angry I’ll get a decent paying job now. They knew I was going to leave.” Alex tried to sum it up without saying what actually happened.

Both men were silent for a few seconds as if not really knowing what to say, Alex pulled up her shirt enough to see her stomach. She could practically feel the anger radiating off the brothers. Her stomach was a mix of black blue and purples. The tree definitely did damage but this was prior to the morning. Gritting her teeth she pushed the shirt back down, it was worse than she thought it would look.

“Do you know if anyone would be willing to have another roommate at the hotel? Just-just for the night I was sleeping in my car but I can’t do that anymore.” She blurted out just to change the subject.


	3. Chapter 3

Jeff had mumbled something about going to get a wet cloth to wash her face off. Alex’s eyes trailed after him for a few seconds. It was odd seeing the now blonde hair since he was dubbed the ‘rainbow haired warrior’. Alex just assumed between 2 in the morning and now Matt had probably helped Jeff bleach out the colors in his hair. It was a frustrating upkeep, and expensive at that. Not that the Hardy Boys lacked for money in the slightest if they were as intelligent as they seemed.

“Uh, RVD is from Michigan so he isn’t using the hotel room they booked him. It’s the one adjoining our room so Jeff was sleeping in it. Jeff can just move back to the room I’m in because there’s a second queen sized mattress and you probably want your space.” Matt helped her stand slowly, once standing on her own Jeff was back with a damp cloth. Alex thanked him for it and hobbled over to one of the full length mirrors so she could see herself.

Alex had to clamp down on the screech of horror that wanted to come out of her. The entire right side of her face surrounding her right eye and cheekbone were deeper hues than her stomach. Her hair had tiny shards of glass in it probably from the windshield breaking above her, she looked like she walked out of a horror movie. The My Chemical Romance shirt had a pool of dried blood on the front of it making it look like she had been bleeding. That’s not even paying any attention to the massive handprint that wrapped around her throat, it almost didn’t look real. Like her brain was trying to trick her.

“Oh god, I-l how am I going to cover it up for the show.” she whispered in horror to herself. Tears stung her eyes from the panic rising in her chest that threatened to consume her. 

“Hey I have an extra shirt I-. Don’t cry it’s going to be alright, Matt and I will make sure of that. Just sit down on that bench and I can clean your face up if you want. Matt is heading to CVS to see if we can get something to cover up the bruises a little so we can get you into the hotel without issue.” Jeff was talking as if he was speaking to a frightened animal, Alex certainly looked like one. Gingerly, she handed over the towel and sat on the bench for weight lifting.

She looked at the shirt he held and it reminded her of the one she used to have, before her father presumably destroyed them. It was a simple black shirt with the Hardy Boys logo. It was obviously meant as a post workout shirt for him and she quietly thanked him for it before taking it. 

Alex straddled one end of the bench and he did the same to the other end so they faced each other. He used one hand to tilt her head as the other so gently dabbed at the blood and dirt on her face. After a few minutes of flinching and wincing she managed to stay still. Just to give her wound a break because it had to be screaming by now he threw the rag into a trash bin and helped her up.

“Let’s get that glass out of your hair, it might be a little suspicious if we walk into the hotel and you leave a trail of glass behind you” Jeff joked lightly and smiled when her lips twitched up for a moment.

“You don’t have to do this part, I’d feel bad if your hands got all cut up because of me” Alex had a tired expression on her face. It made Jeff want to hug her, it was hard to think that her bubbly attitude he only glimpsed was all an act. 

“It’s fine just let me do it. You can’t thoroughly do it yourself anyway.” Jeff pointed to the metal foldable chair and Alex reluctantly sat in it before draping her hair in the sink. It was a slop sink so it had a sprayer head that he could move. She started to hum a song he didn’t know while he waited for the water to warm up. The tips of her hair bled dye when the water touched it and hs eyes wandered to the side of her face.

“How much of this is yours?” Jeff asked softly after a few minutes, cutting off her thoughts.

“Just the side of my head I think, the rest is his. The blood on my throat is his from when I was trying to get away, I clawed at his hand with my nails.” She spoke in short bursts, she didn’t want him to pity her because she couldn’t handle pity.

Jeff stilled his fingers in her hair as he was wetting it with the hose. The thought of someone attacking her made his stomach turn, he didn’t see how she could provoke anything. He found a clump of hair on the side of her head and he parted the now heavy locks to see what it was. It was dried blood that come from a cut in her head. He decided not to say anything as he massaged it out of her hair. He started humming a song and Alex closed her eyes. Content to just listen.

Jeff let his thoughts wander as he worked, something in his gut urged him to help her. Maybe it was his mother telling him that he should help this woman. Maybe it was the pure terror that she showed when she first woke up, he wouldn’t forget his heart stopping dead in his chest when he found her.

When Jeff had been going out to his car in the parking garage he had seen her lying there on the pavement. Unmoving. Within seconds he had run over to the woman who he didn’t recognize and turned her over. Jeff vaguely heard the door open and Matt begin to ask him what was taking him so long. Alex had stirred at the slamming door just enough to open her eyes and groan before passing back out.

“Jeff, get her inside. I don’t think this was an accident.” Matt said as he was looking in the direction of the guard who was arguing with someone. They were too far away to get a good look at who was arguing but Matt stood there until the yelling stopped.

Quickly, he scooped her up as gently as he could and rushed her inside. Within the minute or two it took to bring her in she had leaned into him and that’s when he noticed how cold she was. When he looked at her, really looked at her it almost dumb-slapped him with how he didn’t remember who she was. The woman that he met not even twenty-four hours ago in this gym, Alex- that was her name. He placed her on an empty mat when he saw the glittering shards in her hair. Jeff brushed himself off to be sure none lingered on him. He crouched next to her to get a better look at the bruising on her face. Nothing bad enough to need a Doctor he realized with relief, they could chalk it up to a night at the bar that got out of hand if they needed an excuse for WWE.  
———  
“Thank you for this. You have no reason to help me honestly, but you are.” Alex tried to smile but it became a grimace when pain pulsed through her head. 

“I-Sorry, how long was I spaced out? We can’t exactly just abandon you and you don’t seem like a half bad person.” Jeff felt heat rise to his face because he hadn’t meant to completely space out. He probably would’ve stayed like that for a bit longer if she hadn’t said anything.

“I didn’t mind, I do that every so often too so don’t feel bad. Maybe you could put some of that facepaint on me that you use with your intros. There’s nothing Matt can get from CVS that could possibly cover this up, believe me I’ve tried everything.” She rubbed at her eyes with her hands. 

“Fuck, everything is spinning” She breathed out through gritted teeth before shuddering.

Alex pulled her hair into a bun after Jeff helped to wring it out. She missed the feeling of his fingers massaging her hair but she shoved that thought aside.

“Alright, let’s get this shirt on you and I have some of the makeup in my car. I can put it on you in there. Do you think you can walk at all?” Jeff asked and Alex just shook head before sighing and slipping on the shirt she had been holding onto the whole time.

She pulled her arms out of both shirts and pushed the MCR one up and putting her arms through the new shirt. Eventually pulling the bunched up MCR shirt over her head and clutched it in her now white knuckled hands. She was trying to stay sitting up but it was becoming more and more difficult as her head felt like she was on a boat.

“Well that’s a neat trick, can I just carry you to the car since walking is out of the question?” Jeff gently took the bloody shirt from her hands as he saw her try to stand from the chair and fail. Alex nodded once and he scooped her up in one fluid movement. Her face was instantly buried in his chest so she could block out the light that made the splitting pain in her head worse.

“Don’t go to sleep on me now, you might have a concussion.” He said as he backed into the bar on the door and feeling the chilly outside air hit them.

“Alright, you mother hen.” She tried to joke but even laughing was painful

Jeff huffed out a laugh at that and opened his car door with one arm and balancing her with the other. Once they were both in the car he fished around in the back seat and found the paints he needed.

He decided on red and black since it matched the colors in her hair. Alex had turned to face him and he quickly painted her whole face,neck, and collarbone. His typical abstract style a little sloppy but it would do. When Alex looked in the mirror of the visor her face split into a grin, she leaned over and placed a kiss on his cheek since she couldn't hug him with the drying paint.

Matt met them at the hotel and looked genuinely surprised at the paint but went along with it. Alex had to take a few breaths before walking into the lobby to act like she wasn’t going to collapse again. It wasn’t until they were in the elevator that she slumped into the railing and put her face in her hands.

“So who thought of the paint?” Matt asked when the doors closed.


	4. Chapter 4

“I did, there’s no makeup in the world other than Jeff’s that could cover everything up. I’m just not sure what I’m going to do about tomorrow night they’re going to have me come in and introduce myself. I can’t even wear my gear-oh no. No no no no!.” Alex felt the wind go out of her at the realization that her gear was gone. 

She had spent an entire year saving up for and designing the gear that she had so carefully made sure was safe. An entire year was wasted now and she was slowly spiraling into her own thoughts with no clear way out, the air seemed to stop in her throat as she stood up straight. The mirrored walls of the elevator showed her face looked calm in stark contrast to the panic that filled her. Her brain scrambled to find some solution to the problem but was coming up with nothing so she clamped down on the fear and shoved it into the back of her head. She could deal with it later when the two men she shared the elevator with were out of sight and earshot. 

“You might not have to wear your gear since you’re only signing the contract, you have another week to figure out gear. I used to be pretty good at making Jeff and I’s gear we can work on it after Raw tomorrow. Maybe you could come up with your own style of body paint and act like it’s part of your character?” Matt’s voice ripped her out of her own head and she could have hugged him for it. Even if he didn’t realize what he did for her

“You think that could really work? Won’t WWE be pissed that I’m not in my gear that I said I’d be in?” Alex could feel the tendrils of the doubts clawing their way back into her head.

Matt walked the few steps over to her and put his hands on either shoulder, she must sound like a total basket case to him right now. Her eyes flicked to the floor indicator and it was still a few more floors until the hotel rooms.

“They might not even televise the signing from what I’ve heard around. They are trying to find the next Trish and Lita so just stop thinking about it so much.” Matt said before moving back to where he had been leaning on the wall of the elevator.

Alex wanted to scream at him that it wasn’t that simple, there was so much else attached to the bruises she would have to explain when management saw them. She instead swallowed the retorts and looked to Jeff who seemingly hadn’t noticed the whole transaction. He was transfixed on whatever he was reading, by the looks of the frustrated expression he didn’t like it either. She tried to weigh the pros and cons of asking if everything was alright but she ultimately didn’t have to make that choice because the elevator dinged. Signaling their floor. 

The doors opened and she was pretty sure her eyes were burning when she saw the man behind them and his overly bleached hair. He was attractive looking she figured but couldn’t get passed that fried bleached out hair. He had stunning blue eyes and she wanted to punch him when his eyes raked up and down her form. 

“Keep your eyes off of me if you want to stay conscious.” Alex hissed, in no mood to have men ogling her.

“I’d love to see you try, but I don’t think you could actually reach my face darling.” The smirk on his face only pissed her off more. Something clicked in her head and she remembered where she had seen him before. In the Spirit Squad on WWE.

“At least I wasn’t a cheerleader on national television.” Alex brushed passed him after she said it, leaving both Hardy boys staring at her in confusion before they left the elevator. 

She peered back to see how far they were and they weren’t far behind. A name flashed in her mind as her eyes slid back to the other man, Nicky. She had never paid much attention to the Spirit Squad but she would watch them on occasion when there was nothing else on television.

“What was that about?” Jeff asked after catching up to her, Matt had just walked ahead of the two of them looking for the room numbers.

“I don’t enjoy being looked at as if I’m a slab of meat. I can tolerate it for WWE but outside the ring I don’t put up with it.” Alex said before she scrubbed at her face with her hands. Only to grimace and remember that she had paint on her face.

Alex followed Matt and Jeff into the hotel room once Matt found the number and she ran right to the bathroom. As much as she liked the look of the face paint Alex needed it off, she was quiet enough that she could hear the brothers talking as she scrubbed her face.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have taken her to the hospital? Maybe she has a concussion? How are we going to explain away the bruises to Vince? H-“ Matt started to rant in a hushed tone. 

“And whoever did that to her is her family from what she said, they would be called because with a concussion you can’t do shit Matt and you know it. I get that you don’t think I thought this through but we can’t just throw her to the wolves either. Maybe if we talk to Stephanie first she could get more details and actually be able to help her.” Jeff sounded tired all of a sudden and she frowned at her reflection as the paint was mostly off her face. The white hand towel in her hands was a disturbing red and black that made her shudder from memories that tried to surface.

Guilt washed over her while she started on the paint on her neck. Being a burden was the last thing she wanted, especially when she hadn’t even officially started working in the WWE. Alex pulled out a small leather wallet from her bra and looked inside to see how much money she had left. Just a little over one hundred dollars out of the two thousand she stashed remained to her. Her father had probably found her stash of money and gambled it away already. Stuffing the wallet back into her bra and removing the rest of the paint she hesitated leaving the bathroom. A knock on the door made her jump a few feet in the air before she opened it.

“Just wanted to know if you were close to taking the paint off. Sometimes it just doesn’t like to come off all the way. I thought you might want some other pants to sleep in.” Jeff said a bit awkwardly as he tried to keep his eyes from her throat or her right eye. He held out a pair of big baggy grey sweatpants to her and was surprised when she hugged him.

Jeff just wrapped his arms around her and put his head on top of hers, she was shaking from head to toe. His fingers threaded through her hair as he made a mental note to try and her some more information out of her about what happened. Matt had gone to get some pizza so it was just the two of them. Jeff pulled back a little and tilted her head up to him when he felt her take a shaky breath.

“Thank you, for everything I-I don’t know how to thank you for all of this. I’m sorry if I’m a burden of any kind.” Alex’s voice quivered as she spoke.

“Matt went to get us some pizza so get changed and just relax a little. Whoever they are they can’t get you here and if they tried I’d feel really bad for them.” Jeff slowly let go of her once she stopped shaking. Alex took the sweatpants from him and small laugh came out of her when he said he pitied whoever tried to come after her.

With a quick in and out of the bathroom she was in the comfiest sweatpants she’d ever worn. Alex plopped on the big comfy couch and stretched out. She didn’t take up a lot of it so Jeff settled in on the other side with what looked like a sketchbook. It didn’t take long for him to be absorbed in what he was doing and Alex took in the room around her. It was a modest room with expensive furniture and big enough to be a small apartment with everything it had. 

Night and day to where she had lived, her house was a small cramped thing that had carpeted floors that looked the color of soot. In reality they were beige carpets. Broken bottles and odds and ends furnished the living room and all the bedrooms. All but hers at least. Hers was always kept semi clean and barren because she had to hide her belongings from her family so they couldn’t sell them. Any money they made went to her father who spent the money on gambling and booze mostly. So she had learned to forge numbers on a pay stub, it was never a lot only a couple hundred dollars each time. 

Alex was brought from her thoughts when she heard the door open and close, bringing the smell of pizza with it. Alex had to try not to laugh as Jeff was up within seconds and taking the two pizza boxes from his brother. He opened the top one and took a slice out and putting it in his mouth before bringing the rest of the pizza over to the table. She felt Matt’s eyes on her for a minute and she did her best to ignore it as she took a slice of the pepperoni pizza. Alex couldn’t help the sound that came out of her when she tasted it because it had been so long since she last had pizza. Her face turned beet red and Jeff had upraised eyebrows while she heard a snicker from Matt.

“Shut uuuuup!” Alex squeaked out with a smile and tried to hide her face with the curtain of her hair.

“Oh, I grabbed these while I was out too. I thought you might need these Alex.” Matt remembered when he dug into his pocket, she heard something in a bottle and Matt tossed her something. It was a travel container of painkillers so Alex wasted no time in swallowing a few pills with her next bite of pizza.

“Thanks Matt, I’ll have a chance of sleeping now.” She smiled at him.

Alex felt a sudden surge of energy and took advantage of it, finishing another slice she said she’d be back in a little bit. Alex opened the door adjoining the two hotel rooms together and she proceeded to the bathroom attached to it. She impatiently waited for the water to heat up and inspected her body in the mirror, her clothes were already off and neatly folded on the sink for when she got out. 

Alex turned and surveyed her back, thankfully hitting that tree didn’t leave her with any bruises on her back. She supposed that without the bruises and hollow look in her eyes she would be beautiful. Alex had given up on dating years ago because every time she would start dating someone they would find out about her family and run for the hills. Not that she could blame them, her father had threatened to hospitalize one she was going to move in with. 

Alex ripped her eyes away from the mirror and stepped into the finally hot shower. She didn’t know how long she stood under the stream before she reached for the shampoo but it was long enough that her muscles stopped aching.  
—————

“Jeff don’t go after her we have enough problems as it is. She probably won’t make it passed a year anyway and we will never see her again after that.” Matt warned his brother who was back to sketching after eating half a pizza.

“You didn’t see her before I found her like that and I’m not even thinking about anything romantic. She just seems like a cool person to know.” Jeff rolled his eyes at his brother. He could already tell he wouldn’t be able sleep tonight everything ached and he was out of anything that could help with that.


	5. Chapter 5

Alex jolted awake like someone electrocuted her, but it wasn’t electricity that made her drenched in sweat and tremble. The night terror still played behind her eyes so when there was a light touch on her shoulder Alex bolted back. So fast and far that she was halfway across the room and her eyes frantically searched the room. 

it wasn’t her angry father looking at her from next to the nightstand. It was Jeff. Her hair was plastered to her forehead from the sweat as she shook like a leaf. 

“It’s just me Alex, you were crying and I came in to check on you.” Jeff stayed standing on the other side of the bed, unsure of what to do. 

Alex calmed down enough that she finally took in her surroundings and relaxed a little. She wanted to ask why he looked so tense and why something in his face seemed to show a hint of anger. Jeff was shirtless and clad in only a pair of boxers that she did her best to keep her eyes from darting to.

Alex pushed herself to her feet and made her way back to the bed, she was so damn tired but she could never sleep through the night.

“I’m sorry- tell me I didn’t wake you or Matt up.” Alex groaned and covered her face with her hands.

“I was already awake and you didn’t get loud enough to wake him, he sleeps like the dead. I thought you were just talking in your sleep at first.” Jeff didn’t want to say the rest of what he heard because it made his blood boil. 

Jeff had heard her begging for someone to stop hitting her and that she would hand over whatever they wanted. Even the way she had been curled up in the massive bed made her look like she had been being kicked. When her breathing started to get caught in her throat he woke her up, not without promising himself to make a visit to whoever did this to her. 

“They’re just night terrors I get them every so often.” Alex shrugged and the lie tasted bitter.

“Well, I doubt you can sleep now and I have no luck with sleeping before a match so let’s get out of here. Maybe get some food and just walk around?” Jeff suggested softly as Alex pulled her hair up into a bun atop her head.

The blankets still covered her bottom half and he noticed the sweatpants at the foot of the bed. He cocked an eyebrow and blush covered her face when she followed his line of sight. She tugged the shirt down as if he could see through the blankets.

“It got warm! You can’t say you don’t sleep without pants on occasionally.” Alex grumbled with a smile at the corner of her lips

“Darling, you don’t want to know how I sleep when I don’t share a room with someone. I wasn’t judging you for it. I’ll let you get ready in peace, it shouldn’t take me more than a few minutes myself.” Jeff chuckled and Alex hit him with a pillow to hide how cherry red her face was at the thoughts that ran through her head

It unnerved her how just being near him made that hellish nightmare dissipate from her mind. Maybe it was just that she was near another human that wasn’t going to hurt her in any capacity. She tried to grab the glass of water off her nightstand but her hands were shaking so badly she almost dropped it. Alex groaned and sat back down, she could see a frown on Jeff’s face from the moonlight streaming in the window.

“What happened to you to make you so terrified?” Jeff’s eyebrows were furrowed and his eyes went to her throat, then her right eye.

“That is a long complicated story that you don’t want to hear. I’ve seen and done so much just to get here and it feel like all my hard work is going to be ripped from me the minute anyone in management looks at me.” Alex skirted around his question because she didn’t know if trusting him with any of it was wise.

With a reassuring smile Jeff left her to get ready and to get dressed himself. Alex took a deep breath before grabbing the sweatpants from the floor and walking into the bathroom. She slipped them on and prayed that she didn’t make an idiot out of herself in front of Jeff tonight.


	6. Chapter 6

Alex dressed quickly and did her best to hide any bruises with her hair or hood. When she met Jeff back at the door joining their two rooms she wished she had something better to wear. They left out of her room so when they came back Matt wouldn’t wake up. Alex couldn’t shake off the feeling like they were two teenagers passed curfew when she thought of the assessing stare Matt gave her. He assumed she wasn’t looking but she knew what it meant. Stay the fuck away from Jeff. 

She shoved the thoughts away and they were already in the elevator, neither saying much. Alex looked up at Jeff and reminded herself to not do anything profoundly stupid tonight.

“Now, will you tell me what’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Jeff asked with a quirked eyebrow and a shine in his jade eyes that made her brain scramble for words.

“Are we talking about right now or when you woke me up?” Alex’s mouth went dry at talking about either prospect.

“Whatever one you feel like talking about, but I can’t get out of my head how terrified you were. I’ve seen my fair share of terrifying things Darlin’ and that was a different level of fear.” Jeff chose his words carefully while they walked out the front of the hotel after leaving the elevator.

Alex made a high pitched squeaking sound when the heated hotel gave way to the forty degree night. He couldn’t help but chuckle when she scooted closer to him in an attempt to steal some warmth. Jeff slung his arm around her, allowing her to cozy herself into his side as they walked. 

“Shouldn’t you be used to the cold since you live so far north?” Jeff asked almost mockingly, warning an elbow to the ribs.

“Shouldn’t YOU be the one that’s cold? After all it’s mostly always warm in the Carolinas.” Alex huffed as she warmed up. 

It was hard to ignore what the simple gesture did to her when wherever he touched seemingly turned to a tingling flame. The smell of fresh soap, shampoo, and his natural musky scent calmed every raw nerve in her body. Even his voice was soothing, she could listen to him talk for hours and never be tired of the sound of it.

“It gets cold down there occasionally we just don’t get half as much snow as New England does thankfully. Plus it’s more beautiful.” Jeff mused before leaning his head onto hers as they walked. 

“No way is Cameron more beautiful than New Hampshire and Vermont in the fall. Even Massachusetts is beautiful in a good chunk of the state!”Alex retorted and stared up at the now smirking Hardy.

“Careful, you’re dropping your Rs again. I get the feeling you’re not originally from Michigan?” He said teasingly, the mischief in his eyes lighting up his whole face while he smiled.

“Fine, I’m originally from the Boston area. I try to hide the accent because it’s a harsh one to have for a woman. Unlike yours that sounds like honey most of the time.” Alex rolled her eyes and leaned further into him as another near arctic wind blew through her clothes.

“Maybe spend some time in Cameron and you’ll start picking up on it. We’re going there after tomorrow’s show. We don’t move for a few days anyway so just stay on the compound with Matt and I. We’ll show you some real fun.” Again that little gleam in his eyes sent a thrill through her.

“This place is amazing every time I come here I thought this would be a good place to stop.” Jeff stopped them in front of a family owned diner he’d been to the last couple of times he came to this part of Michigan.

Alex felt her heart stop dead in her chest when she looked through the window, her father was picking up food. She pulled Jeff to the side of the diner and away from where the windows were able to see. She opened her mouth to explain but by the look on Jeff’s face it was too late. The little bell from the diner door rang and Alex’s heart was in her stomach.

“So I was right, how long have you been fucking him so you could get signed?” Any air left her lungs when she heard his voice. She looked up at him finally to see with some satisfaction he had taken the guitar to the face when she threw it. A deep gash was in his forehead and it was already changing colors.

Before she could really say anything Jeff pushed her behind him and was starting to put the pieces together. The resemblance, the cuts and bruises, then there was Alex herself. Who was holding onto his left arm like it was the only thing keeping her from blowing away in the wind. The transition he saw from her smile and happiness to almost cowering behind him was the final piece.

“I don’t know who you think you are but you need to leave.” Jeff spat out his one and only warning to the man he assumed was her father.

“Who exactly are you? I don’t need some pill pushing wrestler to make my daughter his slut.” Darron snarled in Jeff’s face and earned a quick right hook to the face that sent him sprawling to the ground.

Alex thanked whatever god was watching that the diner owner was too cheap to install security cameras. Otherwise they would probably be arresting Jeff right now. She peered towards the alleyway and tugged him towards it before hugging him as tightly as she could. She felt one hand in her hair and the other holding her tightly to him so there was no space between them. 

“No one’s ever tried to step in like that, thank you Jeff.” Her voice came out muffled because her face was pressed against his chest.

“How long has that been going on and how bad has it gotten? Is he why you have those bruises?” Jeff tilted her chin up so those stunning green eyes were looking at him. 

“Years and years, I watched him hurt my mother and I said something when I was thirteen, so he started on me. He would do it whenever the mood came to him. Even if that was in the middle of the night when everyone was sleeping.” She was trying to keep those tears away because she had never said it aloud to anyone.

When Jeff kissed her forehead it let something loose that set her shaking like a leaf. Jeff pulled the girl tighter to him and started to hum a song, within minutes she stopped shaking.

“Other than in the ring I’m not going to let anything happen to you. Stephanie even said you’re riding with Matt and I now. You can relax because we won’t let anything happen to you Alex.” Jeff spoke softly into her hair. 

Eventually they made it back to the hotel where they agreed to just order from the room service menu. They didn’t get that far because they both passed out on the king sized bed once they got in it.

Matt woke up at noontime and found his brother not in the bed across from his own. With a bad feeling he threw on some clothes and peered into the other room through the open door. Jeff and Alex were fully clothed under the mountain of blankets sleeping peacefully. Matt stared at the girl who Jeff held in his sleep. Even if Stephanie said they had to ride together it didn’t mean he trusted her.


End file.
